Check Assumptions and Missing Information

Unit ID: PAW-M08-U02 Estimated active time: 20-25 minutes

The assumptions are load-bearing

Module 5 covered asking for assumptions. This unit is about what to do with them.

An assumption in an output is not a footnote. It is a condition on which the whole answer depends, and if it is wrong the answer usually is too.

Check the assumption, not the conclusion

It is quicker and more reliable to verify four assumptions than to re-derive the conclusion.

If the answer assumed a team of ten and the team is forty, you do not need to read the rest — you need to re-run it.

Rank by impact

Not all assumptions matter equally.

> List your assumptions, and for each say how the answer would change if it were wrong.

That second clause turns a flat list into a ranked one, and you check the top two.

The assumption ledger

ASSUMPTION LEDGER

Assumption               True?      If wrong, the answer...        Action
----------------------   --------   ----------------------------   ----------
team is under 10         no, 40     scales differently; the
                                    single-owner plan fails        re-run
budget approval needed   unknown    adds two weeks                 check today
internal audience only   yes        --                             none
deadline is this quarter unknown    changes the sequencing         check today

Four rows is typical. The "if wrong" column is what tells you which two to spend time on.

Missing information is a different list

Assumptions are gaps that were filled. Missing information is gaps that were left.

Both matter, and only the first is dangerous by default — an acknowledged gap is safe until someone treats the output as complete. Say in your covering note what the output does not cover.

Mini practice

Take an output that included assumptions.

Build the ledger and fill the "if wrong" column before checking any of them.

Then check only the two with the largest consequences.

Mark complete